September 2007 Issue


    Month: September
    Year: 2007

    Back to Print Editions

    VENTURESCOPE(12)

    Draper Fisher Jurvetson has been ramping up its global affiliate network, imprinting its brand around the world as it does so. Amanda Janis reports on the Silicon Valley venture firm's strategy and future plans.

    VENTURESCOPE(10)

    Lifestyle and dating websites have grown in popularity with investors over the last few years, and as Bill Gates' recent $26m investment in PlanetOut demonstrates, niche plays are getting most of the attention. By Dave Keating.

    VENTURESCOPE(11)

    As the Kings of Capitalism come under closer scrutiny than ever, we look at one venture firm on a money-making mission arguably beyond reproach. Nicholas Lockley and Toby Lewis investigate.

    FIRST ROUND(10)

    FIRST ROUND 2007-09-01 Staff Writer The official line is that private equity and hedge fund professionals enjoy a benign relationship – friendly, even. Many have been the times in recent years that buyout protagonists, on being asked whether they consider hedge funds a competitive threat, have pointed to the

    FIRST ROUND(8)

    FIRST ROUND 2007-09-01 Staff Writer The official line is that private equity and hedge fund professionals enjoy a benign relationship – friendly, even. Many have been the times in recent years that buyout protagonists, on being asked whether they consider hedge funds a competitive threat, have pointed to the

    3I'S SMOOTH OPERATOR(2)

    Operational heavyweight Bruno Deschamps swaps Clayton, Dubilier for 3i.

    FIRST ROUND(7)

    A famous VC, a giant boat and a tax liability

    TALKING TO THE UNION(3)

    LBO funds buying into metal-processing businesses in Germany will need to get along with IG Metall.

    Editor's letter(4)

    Editor's letter 2007-09-01 Staff Writer In the July/August issue of Private Equity International, we speculated in this column that market participants might be feeling nostalgic for a return to the ‘good old days’ of two or three months prior when image problems were associated

    FIRST ROUND(6)

    FIRST ROUND 2007-09-01 Staff Writer The official line is that private equity and hedge fund professionals enjoy a benign relationship – friendly, even. Many have been the times in recent years that buyout protagonists, on being asked whether they consider hedge funds a competitive threat, have pointed to the

    FIRST ROUND(5)

    A famous VC, a giant boat and a tax liability

    Editor's letter(3)

    Editor's letter 2007-09-01 Staff Writer In the July/August issue of Private Equity International, we speculated in this column that market participants might be feeling nostalgic for a return to the ‘good old days’ of two or three months prior when image problems were associated

    PEO 2.0: MAXWELL RETURNS

    Nicholas Lockley, editor of PrivateEquityOnline.com, looks behind the headlines of the last four weeks on the web.

    ON THE RECORD

    In 2004, The Israel Infinity Fund, along with Chinese venture capital fund CSVC, raised $15 million (€11 million), with an additional $25 million in co-investment commitments, for the first fund with foreign investors registered in China and denominated in renminbi (RMB). The registration number was 00001. The Tel Aviv-based firm's strategy, which it dubs the Israel-China model, is to invest in Israeli technology vendors looking to break into the Chinese market, as well as Chinese sales/marketing and manufacturing companies looking for new technology to improve their business. Infinity both invests and acts as a matchmaker for its portfolio companies, aiming to create synergies and improve the value of both parties. Investors appear to have been impressed. When Infinity began raising funds for its second China fund, the Israel-China Fund, the firm was targeting $150 million. But appetite was such that the firm has since revised its target upward to $350 million. PEI talked to Infinity managing partner Amir Gal-Or about the adoption of the Israel-China model and how the firm has fared since.

    What to do about pensions

    When corporate restructuring affects the security of a defined benefit pension scheme, trustees will insist they are invited to the negotiating table. Myles Pink looks at the ways in which corporate activity has been affected by changes to pensions legislation, the influence of scheme trustees in the negotiating process and what options are available for private equity acquirers.

    Full service focus

    Judith Völker and Marcus Mackensen discuss why holistic legal advice could be crucial to successful private equity investments.

    BELGIUM BEGINS TO BLOSSOM

    The modestly sized Belgian private equity market is looking to family groups to drive deal flow.

    Troubled waters

    In many countries around the world, private equity firms are having to answer some tough questions. Jo Nash explores how the asset class has come under pressure in the Netherlands.

    AWAITING THE CORPORATE CULL

    Prompted by changing strategic priorities, corporates are not slow to offload investment portfolios that no longer fit.

    Pressure release

    With GPs in the venture space increasingly forced to examine liquidity options, secondary buyers are reporting encouraging deal flow. By Andy Thomson.

    PRIVATELY SPEAKING

    In the view of Graphite Capital, one of the UK's foremost mid-market private equity houses, dark clouds are gathering. Andy Thomson and James Taylor recently met with three of the firm's senior executives to discover their take on deal sourcing, relationship building – and the turning of the cycle.

    VENTURESCOPE(3)

    Draper Fisher Jurvetson has been ramping up its global affiliate network, imprinting its brand around the world as it does so. Amanda Janis reports on the Silicon Valley venture firm's strategy and future plans.

    VENTURESCOPE(2)

    As the Kings of Capitalism come under closer scrutiny than ever, we look at one venture firm on a money-making mission arguably beyond reproach. Nicholas Lockley and Toby Lewis investigate.

    VENTURESCOPE

    Lifestyle and dating websites have grown in popularity with investors over the last few years, and as Bill Gates' recent $26m investment in PlanetOut demonstrates, niche plays are getting most of the attention. By Dave Keating.

    DEAL MECHANIC

    Kohlberg Kravis Roberts' £12bn (€17.8bn; $24.3bn) acquisition of health and beauty chain Alliance Boots was the largest buyout ever seen in Europe – but after global credit markets nosedived during the summer months, the underwriting banks were left with a record-sized headache. Toby Lewis traces the deal's progress.

    Embracing the cycle

    Oaktree Capital Management is an alternative asset manager well placed to profit from this summer's liquidity crisis. In a rare interview, co-founder and chairman Howard Marks talked with PEI about changes in market cycles, his firm's innovative investment approach and the decision to float its management company, on Goldman's private exchange.

    THE WALKER REPORT

    Lack of transparency is one of the sticks with which critics have beaten private equity. In a report commissioned by the industry, City of London grandee Sir David Walker suggests various methods of defence. He recently discussed his work-in-progress with Nicholas Lockley.

    BACK ON THE RADAR

    As economic and political conditions in the region stabilise, private equity has renewed its interest in Latin America.

    POLITICAL CALCULATION

    Emerging Capital Partners managed to make a 3.4 times return from its stake in a rubber company with operations in the Ivory Coast, despite the country being wracked by civil war.

    SEEDING TECH ENLIGHTENMENT

    A new Softbank affiliate is making its mark across Asia.

    RISK-RESISTANT

    RISK-RESISTANT 2007-09-01 Staff Writer France's world-famous Le Mans 24-hour car race is, as the name would suggest, a test of endurance. It is also, in at least equal measure, an examination of nerves. Two examples illustrate this well. In 1955

    BRAND CONSCIOUS

    DLJ Merchant Banking spinout Avista has hired a former Time branding pro.

    LIKE IT'S 1999

    Sun Capital takes a second swing with a subprime lender.

    THE DEBATES RAGE ON

    Private equity hearings have been the hottest ticket in Washington, where a New York senator is demanding that, at the very least, all funds be treated equal.

    FAMILY CIRCLE

    A Palm Beach asset manager has created its first-ever third party vehicles.

    BEING IACOCCA

    Today Chrysler is again in need of emergency restructuring, and so is private equity's reputation.

    GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT

    This summer, Deutsche Beteiligungs listed Homag, a German portfolio company, in Frankfurt. Among the beneficiaries: Homag's octogenarian founder.

    GOOD JUDGEMENT

    A UK mid-market GP has demonstrated its commitment to portfolio companies – all the way through the law courts.

    3I'S SMOOTH OPERATOR

    Operational heavyweight Bruno Deschamps swaps Clayton, Dubilier for 3i.

    TALKING TO THE UNION(2)

    LBO funds buying into metal-processing businesses in Germany will need to get along with IG Metall.

    FIRST ROUND(4)

    FIRST ROUND 2007-09-01 Staff Writer The official line is that private equity and hedge fund professionals enjoy a benign relationship – friendly, even. Many have been the times in recent years that buyout protagonists, on being asked whether they consider hedge funds a competitive threat, have pointed to the

    FIRST ROUND(3)

    A famous VC, a giant boat and a tax liability

    Editor's letter(2)

    Editor's letter 2007-09-01 Staff Writer In the July/August issue of Private Equity International, we speculated in this column that market participants might be feeling nostalgic for a return to the ‘good old days’ of two or three months prior when image problems were associated

    TALKING TO THE UNION

    LBO funds buying into metal-processing businesses in Germany will need to get along with IG Metall.

    FIRST ROUND(2)

    FIRST ROUND 2007-09-01 Staff Writer The official line is that private equity and hedge fund professionals enjoy a benign relationship – friendly, even. Many have been the times in recent years that buyout protagonists, on being asked whether they consider hedge funds a competitive threat, have pointed to the

    FIRST ROUND

    A famous VC, a giant boat and a tax liability

    Editor's letter

    Editor's letter 2007-09-01 Staff Writer In the July/August issue of Private Equity International, we speculated in this column that market participants might be feeling nostalgic for a return to the ‘good old days’ of two or three months prior when image problems were associated